Working Paper:
Canaries in the AI Coal Mine: An Exploration of Black Women, AI Harm and the Trickle-Down Effects by Janice Gassam Asare, Ph.D.
(FREE DOWNLOAD)

Abstract:

​Black women’s experiences with AI provide us with an early warning of the harms AI can cause the general population. This working paper examines how AI harms Black women and how this harm will expand to other populations. Through an exploration of bias, environmental harms, intellectual property infringement, job losses and misinformation campaigns, this paper highlights how AI impacts Black women and provides a glimpse into how these harms will affect everyone else. As stated by the Combahee River Collective, “If Black women were free, it would mean that everyone else would have to be free since our freedom would necessitate the destruction of all the systems of oppression.” Once we understand and address the myriad ways that AI harms Black women, we will be able to develop the infrastructure to address and resolve AI inequities for everyone.